South, Crater finish on high note

It wasn't always pretty but South Medford's boys basketball team was able to finish the 24th annual Abby's Holiday Classic on a high note Sunday with a fourth-place finish at North Medford High.

By Kris Henry

It wasn't always pretty but South Medford's boys basketball team was able to finish the 24th annual Abby's Holiday Classic on a high note Sunday with a fourth-place finish at North Medford High.

Panthers senior Mark Winans provided the driving force behind his team's 2-1 run in the tournament, capping off the three-day event with 19 points, five assists and four rebounds in a 47-42 victory over McKay.

For his efforts, the 6-foot-1 Winans was named to the all-tournament team. South Medford's lone loss came in the first round to eventual champion Sheldon.

"I really thought for Mark Winans, that's as good as we've seen him play this year," said Panthers head coach Dennis Murphy, whose team improved to 7-3 overall. "I hope that's just the beginning of what's coming. Gosh, he just played hard the whole game, he knocked shots down and rebounded and all that was a big boost for us."

The Panthers needed every bit of Winans' effort for the mid-Sunday tipoff against McKay (8-2), which led 10-7 after one quarter but lost its advantage midway through the second and never regained it.

Neither team was particularly sharp, with South Medford shooting 32 percent from the field (14-for-44) compared to 39 percent (14-for-36) for the Royal Scots.

"It wasn't very pretty," added Murphy. "It was hard to get anything going. We had a couple spurts but not very many. Sometimes third games in tournaments, especially played at this time, aren't real pretty but we battled through it."

A pair of free throws by Brandon Lupton pulled the Panthers even at 16-all and the reserve senior's 3-pointer with 24 seconds remaining in the first half allowed South Medford to take a 22-18 lead into halftime.

The Panthers then used a 9-0 run in the third quarter, highlighted by a 3-pointer from Brayden Massey and consecutive one-two combinations between Winans and Ben Orndoff, to separate from McKay.

When the Scots closed within three points in the fourth quarter, Winans stepped up with a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer to provide some cushion. The Panthers, however, let McKay hang around late by going 3-for-7 from the foul line in the final two minutes.

Orndoff finished with nine points, three rebounds and three assists while Massey had six points and Cameron English pulled down eight rebounds to go with three points. Lupton had five points and Hunter Bradford added four rebounds and three points for a Panther team still minus starters C.J. Keepes (ankle) and Brandon Robertson (knee).

"We hope to get them back sometime," said Murphy of Keepes and Robertson, "but you've gotta play with what you have and our kids competed and played hard. It was a good win for our guys."

Micah Sanders had 11 points and six rebounds and Dillon James, who was also named to the all-tournament team, added nine points and six rebounds for McKay.

CRATER 42, SPRAGUE 38 — Connor Lane poured in 17 of his game-high 21 points in the second half to help Crater shrug off a two-point second quarter and edge Sprague to keep from going winless in the three-day tournament.

Lane, a 6-foot-7 senior, also pulled down nine boards to go with one block and two assists, the last for a lay-in by Jacob Hintemeyer that snapped a 38-all tie with 32 seconds to play. Lane later added a pair of free throws for the final margin with 12.4 seconds left.

Hintemeyer finished with eight points and seven rebounds and Dean Orozco had four points, four rebounds and two assists for the Comets (4-5). Tanner Jaasko also came up with three key steals to spur Crater's second-half rally.

Sprague (2-7) received 14 points from Nick Parsell and 11 from Jack Frazier in a back-and-forth affair that saw the Olympians take a 23-14 lead at intermission before being outscored 14-4 in the third quarter.

SHELDON 59, SOUTHRIDGE 50 — Mitchell Herbert scored 18 points to lead three Sheldon players in double figures and the Irish used a scintillating fourth-quarter comeback to claim their first championship in the Abby's Holiday Classic.

Sheldon (8-2) outscored Southridge 14-2 in the fourth quarter to rally for the victory in only the fourth tournament championship played without at least one Medford finalist.

Jordan Alexander had 13 points and Logan Davis added 11 for the Irish, which had Herbert and Nick Nestell named to the all-tournament team.

The Skyhawks (6-4) opened a 19-9 lead after one quarter but led only 33-30 at halftime. A.J. Monterossi scored 17 of his team-high 19 points in the first half and was named to the all-tournament team.